PepsiCo has ordered 100 of Tesla’s all-electric semi-trucks as part of the food and beverage giant’s plan to reduce emissions across its supply chain at least 20% by 2030.
Mike O‘Connell, the senior director of North American supply chain for PepsiCo subsidiary Frito-Lay, told Reuters the company has reserved 100 trucks. The Tesla order represents about 1% of PepsiCo’s U.S. fleet of nearly 10,000 big rigs.
This is the biggest order since Tesla CEO Elon Musk unveiled the heavy-duty semi-truck in a splashy event Nov. 16 outside of Los Angeles. PepsiCo joins a growing list of companies, including Walmart, J.B. Hunt Transport Services, and Michigan-based grocery chain Meijer that have pre-ordered the semi-truck. Musk said during an unveiling of the truck that reserving a Semi costs $5,000.
Tesla will not begin production of the Tesla Semi until 2019. The company’s trucks program, which started in January 2016, is led by Jerome Guillen, the previous director of Tesla’s Model S program. Guillen is former Daimler executive who was responsible for the development of the company’s new generation of Class 8 trucks.
The Tesla Semi, a Class 8, the largest heavy duty freight trucks, shares a number of parts with its new mass-market passenger vehicle the Model 3, including the same motor, handles, and display screen. Tesla says the expected base price of its truck will be $150,000 for 300-mile range, and $180,000 for a semi with 500 miles of range.